Heroes in Small Places
by Spontaneous Me
Summary: The Avengers aren't the only superheroes out there. . .


Dust billowed from the wreckage. What once was a five story building was nothing but a pile of brick and steel.

Bianca stretched forward as far as she could, pressing her cheek against the slab of cement, and grabbed the little boy's hand. He seemed to relax at the touch of another human being, his cries of pain quieting to high-pitched whimpers. She stroked his hand, a small comfort, but it was the best she could do.

"Hey," she whispered. "We're gonna get out of here. We're gonna be fine."

The boy coughed, then struggled to speak through his tears. "I. . .c-can't b-b-breathe. . .very w-well." she heard him cough again. "W-we're. . .gonna die. . .I-I just. . .kn-now it." he broke down crying. Bianca desperately tried to calm him down.

"Hey, hey! We are not going to die." she spoke firmly, squeezing his hand for emphasis. She had to think positively right now, or they _would_ die.

"Listen to me. Hey!" The boy sniffed and coughed again, but he stopped sobbing.

Bianca formed her words slowly, hoping that her voice wouldn't break. "Before the building fell, before the explosion, what did you see?"

Silence. Then, "I don't know."

"Did you see what flew past the building?" Bianca struggled to keep her voice level.

"I don't know."

"Yes you do! I heard you yell his name."

"No, I don't!" His voice bordered on hysteria. More sniffles.

"I'll give you a hint. He was red and gold."

A pause. "Iron Man?"

"Yes, you saw Iron Man. And do you know who I saw, battling aliens on the street?"

"Who?" his voice wasn't quivering with fear anymore.

"Captain America."

"No way. . ." he breathed.

Bianca smiled at his disbelief. "He threw his shield at a building and it bounced off and hit an alien who was trying to shoot the Captain's partner."

"Who was his partner?"

Ah, this was tricky. Bianca hadn't really gotten to see, because that was when the bomb flew into the floors below them and the building fell. But she had caught a small glimpse, and she racked her brain to bring up the image. He was clothed in black, that much she knew, with some sort of-

"Hello?" the boy was scared again.

Bianca's memory cleared. "He was dressed in black," she said. "Like a spy, only he didn't have a gun."

"Why not? How can you fight aliens without a gun?"

"He had a bow and arrows."

"That wouldn't help him. Arrows are don't hurt you."

"Well, these were different. I think one of them exploded."

". . .Oh." Sniffle.

_Dang it, Bianca!_ She shouldn't have mentioned explosions.

"Hey, we'll be all right."

"How do you know?"  
"You saw the superheroes. They're out there looking for us right now."

"Nuh-uh."

"Oh, yes. Why, I bet that when we get rescued, Iron Man himself will carry you all the way to the hospital."

"You really think so?"

"Hey, I know so."

"Mm-kay."

She felt his grip relax. "Hey! Don't fall asleep on me." she shook his hand a little. "Don't you want to be awake when Iron Man finds you?"

He didn't respond. Fear laced through her body, adding to the pain she already had. "Wake up, little buddy!" she cried, her voice breaking just a little.

"Mm. . .I'm a. . ." he yawned. ". . .wake."

Bianca forced herself a small laugh. "I knew that. . ."

"Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure, kiddo."

"Who's gonna carry you?"

"What?"

"Who's gonna carry you to the hospital?"

Huh. "Um. . .most likely Captain America."

"Okay."

The building shifted. Bianca bit her tongue as her broken leg was jarred. The boy whimpered and his small hand tightened it's grip.

"Hey, hey." she murmured.

Dust rained down from the cracks and a couple small rocks hit Bianca on the head. She mentally added _pounding headache_ to her list of injuries. The rumble passed. Bianca lifted herself onto her elbows and spit blood onto the floor. _Great._ She thought. _Now I just sliced through my tongue._

The boy coughed. "My chest hurts." he whimpered.

"It's okay. Iron Man will find us." Bianca struggled through each word. Blood ran down her face from the spot where the rocks had hit her head. It didn't help matters that it was pitch black, but then, maybe it was for the best. At least she couldn't see how terrible she must look.

"How long have we been down here?"

"I don't know." Bianca sighed. "Only a couple minutes."

"It seems longer than that."

Bianca just nodded her head. Suddenly she was unbelievably tired. The lack of oxygen was probably getting to her. It was getting harder to breathe.

The building rumbled again, this time much harder. A slab of concrete fell on top of Bianca's leg, and she couldn't muffle the cry of pain that was torn from her lips. She tightened her grip on the boy's hand.

More dust fell, coating her in a thin layer. She coughed, ignoring the pain in her tongue. The boy cried out, his small voice sounding above the noise of the building. Bianca felt his other hand grab hers and she held onto both with all the strength she had left. She shut her eyes and grit her teeth as she waited for the building to fall.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

Bianca kept her eyes closed and waited.

A grating sound, like metal scraping against concrete. Then, a voice.

"Well, hello there." it was metallic, robotic sounding.

The boy started yelling in desperation. "There's another person! She's right behind this wall! You have to help her, she's hurt!"

Another voice, this one more human. "All right, we'll get her, but we need you to settle down, okay?"

"O-okay."

"Good, now Iron Man set him over there and help me with this."

"Okey dokey."

A gloved hand brushed her's. "Miss, are you all right?"

"I dunno. . ." Her tongue was swelling. Nice.

"We're gonna get you out of there, okay?"  
"Okay. . ."

The robot and human exchanged a couple words, then the rumbling started again. She heard various pieces of rubble crashing around her small prison and every once and a while she would see a flash of blue light. A few times a rock or something would hit her somewhere tender and she would almost lose consciousness. Finally all was still.

A pair of strong arms lifted her up. It movement was gentle, but that didn't stop her leg from flaring with pain. She moaned softly.

"Sorry."

At that she had to smile. Her rescuer was apologizing? "'S okay. . ." she mumbled.

Tony lifted the small boy in his arms. Already the rush of being rescued was leaving him, and he slumped wearily against Tony's shoulder, blinking slowly.

"She told me you would come." he said.

Tony glanced down at him. "Oh, yeah?"

The boy nodded. "Mm, hm. She said you were looking for us, that you would find us and you would carry me all the way to the hospital." he yawned.

Tony shrugged. "Well, that's what a superhero does. They look for lost people and they find them."

The boy closed his eyes. "There's another kind of superhero, you know."

"And who are they?"  
"They're the ones that keep you company when you're scared."

Now, Tony wasn't the sentimental type, but looking at the boy in his arms then at the girl Steve was placing on a stretcher, Tony decided he was right. Some superheroes didn't need to dress up in fancy outfits or fight crime or have superhuman powers (or superhuman good looks). They were the kind that worked in small ways. They were everywhere, but only a few people—like this boy—would actually see them for what they really were.

Heroes in small places.

* * *

**This is my attempt at one of those cute little one-shots KarToon12 always writes. Epic fail, I know.**

**Anyways, I tried messing with Tony as a little practice for I Always Carry An Umbrella and I don't really know how he turned out. :P Let me know how I did!**

**Constructive criticism always appreciated.**


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